If I look at the definition of a comp. and what it really can do. a computer can only do two things, those two things are being broadend by the programs on it.
A pentium 4 cant do much more than a .386, a computer with Pentium 4 processor is just capable to host more and better programs. and can have that done more efficient.

The only thing every computer can do. is add 1's and 0's to make bits and bytes.
like the letter A. when I type it. The computer recieves signals like this. where 1 is power on and 0 power off. 11011001 10001111 00010011... these codes are built up in 8's where it is built up like this...

If I look at the definition of a comp. and what it really can do. a computer can only do two things, those two things are being broadend by the programs on it.
A pentium 4 cant do much more than a .386, a computer with Pentium 4 processor is just capable to host more and better programs. and can have that done more efficient.

The only thing every computer can do. is add 1's and 0's to make bits and bytes.
like the letter A. when I type it. The computer recieves signals like this. where 1 is power on and 0 power off. 11011001 10001111 00010011... these codes are built up in 8's where the first is.

If I look at the definition of a comp. and what it really can do. a computer can only do two things, those two things are being broadend by the programs on it.
A pentium 4 cant do much more than a .386, a computer with Pentium 4 processor is just capable to host more and better programs. and can have that done more efficient.

The only thing every computer can do. is add 1's and 0's to make bits and bytes.
like the letter A. when I type it. The computer recieves signals like this. where 1 is power on and 0 power off. 11011001 10001111 00010011... these codes are built up in 8's where the first is.

00000001 = 1
00000010 = 2
To make it shorter I am gonna lose the excesive zeros like this.
instead of: 00000010 I write 10 which is. 2
100 = 4
1000 = 8
10000 = 16
100000 = 32
1000000 = 64
10000000 = 128

thats the octet...
Now you get...

1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1
128 64 32 16 8 4 2 1

Thats how the octet is built up.
Now
To write the A. you will need more that one octet. To get the full code.
(if the code is 128 for the letter A you will get these octets.
1000=8
10=2
1=1
Three octets
Now the zeros that should be there are not written since thats as useless as when you write you have this in cash. I have 00,1 euro in my wallet. instead you write I have 1 cent. or you write. I have 0,1 cent. the zero falls off.


Now That I have broken that up for you...

Maybe you should think again about your attachment to your computer....
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^Thats me talking like the IT-student I am^
\/That will be me as me where I think it might be possible\/

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People who think they have an attachment to there computer should try to get that Network cable out of there ass...
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There we go

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Action potentials (the means of communicating between neurons) in the nervous system operate largely on an all-or-nothing principles 0/1, and in some cases in degrees. In any case, advanced computers should be able to simulate the human brain because of this. However, we will have a huge computer doing what a brain can do in a small space. What's the point?

Mr U

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Not necissarily. A processor does not have to be large, it simply has to be cold.

The things that make computers "think" are processors, they're usually very small chips that simply pull the binary equations sent to them, out as fast as possible.

The problem is that they overheat, this is why your computer has a fan and a heatsink and all that fancy shmancy stuff.

Advancec computers could have multiple processors in a very small place that could in fact have just as many gigaflops as juxtatposed to a human brain.

The problem is that these processors would need to be made out of materials that do not change shape under high temperatures, and that can be cooled by practicle means.

There are some new processors comming out in the next few years that will be pretty close to acheiving this.

Nevertheless this doesn't mean that your computer will be able to have a personality or be "like" you.

This simply means that it will be able to answer a series of queries as fast as the human brain.

Now all we'll need after that is a very complex code that could somehow adapt to it's environment and change. Basically a "learning" code.. AI.

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What I meant was, to replicate a brain, one would have to replicate all of the brains interfacing neurons, or at least the ganglia/nuclei, which would result in a complete 'computer' much larger the size of a brain, because we can't create processors that small that can communicate with other processors in an adequate fashion.

Still, even completing the puzzle won't be much help. The information stored in each cell, each neuron by DNA is enormous.

Mr U

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Talking Terrabytes worth of information. Per neuron that is....

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That's why we have to stop working with this electric shit and start attempting to create biological computers.

How cool would that be!

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Correct. But how cold? What is the "sweet spot" in the range for today's computers?
I'm curious: Could a computer of any kind work at millikelvin temperatures, and would it be efficient?
Biological computers--interesting...
What about quantum computers?

-Snoopy

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Yeah, they have one of those.

"A computer made of neurons taken from leeches has been created by US scientists.

At the moment, the device can perform simple sums - the team calls the novel calculator the "leech-ulator".

But their aim is to devise a new generation of fast and flexible computers that can work out for themselves how to solve a problem, rather than having to be told exactly what to do.

[...]

The neurons are harnessed in a petri dish by inserting micro-electrodes into them. Each neuron has its own electrical activity and responds in its own way to an electrical stimulus.

These features can be used to make each neuron represent a number. Calculations are then performed by linking up the individual neurons.

Leech neurons are used because they have been extensively studied and are well understood.

Though much simpler, the neuron computer works in a similar way to the human brain. Professor Ditto says a robot brain is his long-term aim, noting that conventional supercomputers are far too big for a robot to carry around."

Hat Tip: BBC

And as for quantum machines...

"Today's computers, like a Turing machine, work by manipulating bits that exist in one of two states: a 0 or a 1. Quantum computers aren't limited to two states; they encode information as quantum bits, or qubits. A qubit can be a 1 or a 0, or it can exist in a superposition that is simultaneously both 1 and 0 or somewhere in between. Qubits represent atoms that are working together to act as computer memory and a processor. Because a quantum computer can contain these multiple states simultaneously, it has the potential to be millions of times more powerful than today's most powerful supercomputers.

This superposition of qubits is what gives quantum computers their inherent parallelism. According to physicist David Deutsch, this parallelism allows a quantum computer to work on a million computations at once, while your desktop PC works on one. A 30-qubit quantum computer would equal the processing power of a conventional computer that could run at 10 teraflops (trillions of floating-point operations per second). Today's typical desktop computers run at speeds measured in gigaflops (billions of floating-point operations per second).

Quantum computers also utilize another aspect of quantum mechanics known as entanglement. One problem with the idea of quantum computers is that if you try to look at the subatomic particles, you could bump them, and thereby change their value. But in quantum physics, if you apply an outside force to two atoms, it can cause them to become entangled, and the second atom can take on the properties of the first atom. So if left alone, an atom will spin in all directions; but the instant it is disturbed it chooses one spin, or one value; and at the same time, the second entangled atom will choose an opposite spin, or value. This allows scientists to know the value of the qubits without actually looking at them, which would collapse them back into 1's or 0's."

A good site for more information can be found here if you have that kind of time.

To my knowledge there were four companys in Arizona that had been trying to develope this technology since the early '90s. The main problem is funding. The burn rate for these companies was one billion dollars. A year. Each. In '01 there was a lot of talk and rumor that one of the companys had made some sort of discovery and did in fact have a fully funtioning quantum computer. No idea if this is true or not, but I wouldnt be surprised either way.

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guys dont you get it?for example lets look at the internet,the internet has AI.when you type in somethin on a search engine,it asks it self what does it mean.then it locates sites with that particular topic.and as more advaced search engines arive better AI is.and as the computer is thinking comes more questons to understand the topic better so it scans data and solves the question.so yes in a way our computers are intelagent and evolving.mebe even a mind of its own...